June 14, 2024

I don't think this needs a caption.  No surprise that both participants are male.

GRADUATION

1961 classmates Bob Richardson and Carole Smithson pose for a snapshot before heading off to commencement at SDSC.  Click HERE to read once again about the great graduation controversy from the year before.

Wow!  I forgot how many goodies Pam Burroughs shared having to do with her graduation in 1963.  Click HERE to see photos that include the bookcase at La Casa Frito (my house).

Did you graduate in 1972?  You're probably in one of the many photos shared previously by Ken Burton.  Click HERE and get out the magnifying glass.

Click on the links below to read Pacer Graduation Issues from

1959

1964

1969

 

June 7, 2024

 

My pilot friends LOVE this Far Side cartoon.  They call them Cumulogranite clouds and say it's important to fly around them.

I thought I'd posted this photo before, but I can't find it.  It's a postcard photo of San Diego State around 1957.  Click HERE for an enlargement.

Scott Shaw posted this photo of an Oscar's Drive-In sign on Facebook.  I think it was taken at Midway and Rosecrans.  Click HERE for a larger view and see what you think.

Julie Eskew recently rediscovered her Choir Pins from Horace Mann and Crawford.  Click HERE to see them up close.

Click HERE to read all six pages of the June 6, 1973 Pacer.  Spoiler Alert!  Mrs. Tidwell and Mrs. Archibald announced their retirement.

William Simpson ’63 passed away May 30, 2024.  As a Crawford Colt, Bill lettered in track and wrestling.  He joined the San Diego Fire Department in 1966 and rose through the ranks to become a captain.  He served as a firefighter for 35 years.  Bill loved to hike the Sierras with friends and family and made annual trips which together covered over one thousand miles of mountain trails. He also loved to snow ski with his family near Lake Tahoe and travel with his wife Margaret to many places around the world.  He is survived by his wife Margaret, daughter Brigette, son Travis, stepson Justin, grandchildren Ryan, Gage, Sophia, Jacob, Max, and Cael and brother Ron.

May 31, 2024

Looks like the Coyote has once again come up short in an encounter with the Roadrunner

I didn't want to wait until Winter to share this postcard of snow in Julian. Click HERE for an enlargement.

Looks like the Class of '69 is planning a daytime reunion in Allied Gardens on Thursday, July 25th.   I've posted a slightly larger version of this ad on the Reunion Page.   Get back to me if you still can't read the names, phone numbers or email addresses of the folks in charge.

Richard Bennett ’61 passed away March 17, 2024.  He grew up in San Diego and lettered in basketball and tennis while at Crawford.  He went on to get a meteorology degree at San Jose State.  He lived in Walnut Creek, California and worked at the East Bay Municipal Utility District for thirty years, retiring as their water conservation administrator.  Richard was a devoted family man and enjoyed coaching his daughter and granddaughters’ soccer teams.  He loved to hike with his wife and dogs, cloud watch, storm chase, ski, and hang out with his friends and family.  He was a rabid San Diego Chargers fan.  He was preceded in death by his brothers John and Bill, as well as his fraternal twin Bob.  He is survived by his wife Bonnie, daughter Elizabeth, granddaughter Ella, and his younger brother Dave. 

 

May 24, 2024

 

Wow!  Memorial Day Weekend already?  Enjoy your barbecue and take a little time to remember those who paid the ultimate price.   Click HERE to revisit the Colt Memorial Page.

I love this cartoon -- and may have posted it previously.  I hope it brings back pleasant memories of childhood Monopoly games.

But, wait -- there's MORE!!  Colt Map Maven Dick Cloward shares the reverse side of last week's 1935 California Expo map.  Click HERE and scroll down.

Click HERE to peruse the KCBQ Top 30 from May 17, 1964.  Oh, dear -- that's 60 years ago.  

The May 21, 1964 Pacer is also 60 years old.  Click HERE to read all 6 pages.

May 17, 2024

 

I'm pretty sure this is one of my top five Gary Larson Far Side cartoons

This map of the 1935 California Pacific Exposition in Balboa Park appeared this week on Facebook.  I've blown it up larger than usual, so click HERE and enjoy.

The statement above took me back to my own experience with a Hot Deep Dish Pie at Oscar's.  Click HERE if you'd like to revisit an Oscar's menu from 1963.

I got a phone call on Monday from Duane Farrar letting me know that our '62 classmate Colin Cole passed away on Sunday.  He was found in his easy chair.  That's the way I want to go.

May 10, 2024

Those of you who have never done a Google search might not get this

Here's a lovely photo taken from 6th and Ash in 1890.  You can see the Hotel del Coronado in the distance.  Click HERE if you'd like to peruse a larger view.

I thought you might enjoy this photo of Channel 8 weatherman Doug Oliver filming a Wonder Bread commercial at the San Diego Zoo in 1960.

Click HERE to read the Crawford Pacer issued on May 4, 1973

 

May 3, 2024

 

Did you know Stephen Bishop had a part in the movie Animal House?  Scott Shaw shared that on Facebook.  Click HERE to check it out.

Eva and Bob Creason visited Japan in 2020.  Click HERE for an enlargement and their itinerary.

I'm still a sucker for color shots of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe.  Click HERE for an enlargement of this image of The San Diegan getting ready to head north to Los Angeles.

I hope you're not tired of aerial photos of downtown San Diego.  This is a rare shot looking south from Laurel and Pacific Highway.   Click HERE for a larger version, with some details and additional views.

April 26, 2024

I'm a little unclear on my Passover etiquette.  Is it too late to wish my Old Testament friends a Happy Passover? It always sneaks up on me. Turns out it started this past Monday at sundown, and will end on Tuesday, April 30th.

I saw this hat for sale on the web.  I'm nor buying one, but the caption cracked me up.

This stunning aerial, with Seaport Village in the foreground and Balboa Park way in the back, may have been taken in 1983 like the helicopter shot featured recently.  The square patch of dirt center-right appears to be the future site of Horton Plaza Shopping Center, which opened in 1985.  Click HERE if you'd like to peruse a larger version.

George Sorensen '69 has a new book out.  You can tell by the cover artwork that it's gonna be fun.  Click HERE to read more about it -- and maybe snap up a copy -- on Amazon.

Bob Creason '62 shares a 1959 snapshot of four Horace Mann track stars -- himself, Richard Green, Dan Worona and Colin Cole.  Click HERE for an enlargement, with additional information, including the current whereabouts of Bob's gym shorts.

James Person ’61 passed peacefully on April 9, 2024 with his family at his side, his long journey with lymphoma over.  He is survived by his wife Pat Baker Person ‘63, two children, five grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and his 103 year-old mother.  Jim graduated from SDSU with a degree in chemistry, but worked for Social Security for 36 years. He loved to build furniture in his wood shop.  He and Pat spent their twenty-five years of retirement camping and "loving on their grandchildren".

April 19, 2024

After a number of false starts I was able to get a Macintosh expert, thanks to Charles Hansen, to come to my place and transfer data from my old computer to the new iMac with two major exceptions -- Thunderbird email and Filemaker database.  I use Filemaker to generate mailing labels for the quarterly newsletter.  This guy was really good, but he couldn’t figure out how to make Thunderbird work on my new computer.  If you get this, my old computer is still working.  Johnfry1@icloud.com and jfry@san.rr.com appear to be the best email addresses if you need to contact me.

 

Remember when you (well, not me) would sidle up to a girl and softly say Psst -- It's snowin' down south?

I'm guessing this photo of Mission Valley was taken around 1920, from where the Junipero Serra Museum is today.  It's credited to the Bunnell Photo Shop.  I always wondered if my classmate Doug Bunnell was a relative, but I think he told me once he wasn't.  Click HERE for an enlargement.

Here's a treasure I found at the bottom of the Dietra Anderson gift box.  It's undated, but appears to have been published during the 1957-1958 school year at Horace Mann.   Click HERE for 8 pages of 1950s' Jive Chatter.

Kevin Thrash ’74 was a classmate of mine at Andrew Jackson, Horace Mann and Crawford.   He was a big part of the football team and played college football in west Texas.  He died April 14, 2024 -- Dale Olson

April 12, 2024

My all time favorite Gary Larson cartoon

Tom West gently noted that the construction project in the above photo would become the Convention Center, not Seaport Village. 

In addition, George Glover sent me a photo of a Coast Guard H-3 with the Reuben E. Lee in the background.  I countered with another Coast Guard H-3 photo that I took at Santa Clara Point in Mission Bay.  On a roll, I then came across photos of Sea Kings fighting the 2009 Cedar Fire, a Sea King recovering the Apollo 17 astronauts near American Samoa and, finally, the President's own H-3 which you may have seen this week flying him to look at the bridge damage in Baltimore.  Buckle up and click HERE to check them all out.

Here's a 1946 photo looking south on Fourth at University,  I've also included a Google Street view taken in October 2022.  Click HERE to check them out.

I've added another postcard to the Aztec Motel page.  Click HERE to see the front AND the back.

Click HERE to read all four pages of the April 13, 1973 Pacer donated by Tracy Gantz

Camille Negro Frederick '60 didn't renew her subscription to the Crawford newsletter (the April issue went in the mail last Friday).  Inside the return envelope was a simple note saying she died June 30, 2023.